It is becoming more and more common to use lasers to perform industrial, medical, and research procedures. It is well-known that the radiation from such lasers must be confined to certain operative areas and that lasers used under a variety of circumstances can present a danger to personnel and equipment. It is also well-known that it is difficult to totally prevent the occurrence of stray radiation in certain circumstances.
Personnel may be injured by direct exposure to a laser beam on the skin. Also, if a person's eyes were to become accidentally exposed to a laser beam, severe injury or loss of vision can occur. Since severe or even catastrophic injuries can occur due to exposure to errant laser radiation, many laser shields have been developed.
Most laser radiation barriers or shields consist of flexible, fabric-based materials, which are used to protect personnel from scattered and diffuse laser light. These, flexible shield materials can be used to construct protective clothing and/or drapes to be worn by or placed over personnel. Flexible materials can also be used to create curtains, which may be hung from any number of support devices in order to effectively contain an area within which a laser device is to be operated. However, due to their flexibility, these laser shield materials depends upon another structure to provide support.
Recently, rigid laser containment materials have begun to be used, especially in areas exposed to high-power laser radiation or direct hits from high-power laser beams. One such laser beam absorption material is known as EVER-GUARD.TM., which has been sold by the Kentek Corporation of Pittsfield, New Hampshire, the assignee of the present application for more than one year prior to the filing of the instant application. EVER-GUARD high power laser absorption panels comprise a textured surface, including a plurality of convexed dimples, which is directed toward a source of laser radiation. While EVER-GUARD panels have proven to be effective at containing high power laser radiation, they have, to date, simply been supported by existing flexible laser hanging systems, such as roller curtain tracks in areas susceptible to direct hits from high power radiation.
Also, since most flexible, laser containment curtains comprise a plurality of layers of material, they are relatively heavy and difficult to hang and reposition, if required.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a portable, self-supporting laser containment barrier which includes a rigid frame, a substantially rigid, high power laser beam absorption panel affixed to the frame, and a base section upon which the barrier stands.